1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of networking and, more particularly, to resetting account passwords using an Interactive Voice Response System.
2. Description of the Related Art
Internet service providers (ISPs) connect users to the Internet in a variety of manners, such as dial-up, digital subscriber line (DSL), cable, satellite, or the like. Regardless of the connection methodology, a user can be required to provide a user identifier and an associated password before being granted access to the ISP's services. User identification allows the ISP to provide user-specific services, like e-mail, news groups, chatting, instant messaging, or the like. Passwords assure that the present user is authorized to access the identified account.
Users sometimes lose or forget passwords associated with the access accounts. The likelihood that passwords will be forgotten increases when the ISP utilizes security enhancing techniques to prevent unauthorized users from guessing passwords. Security enhancement techniques can require a minimum password length, can require a password to include both letters and numbers, can disallow dictionary entries as passwords, can cause passwords to periodically expire, or the like.
When users lose or forget their passwords, the associated password must be reset. Conventional automated password reset mechanisms, which are primarily Web based, can require Internet access, which a user who has lost or forgotten their account password often lacks.
Another way that a user can reset a password is through a customer service representative. Customer service centers, however, are generally minimally staffed to reduce costs. Minimally staffing a customer service center can result in frustratingly long wait times. Additionally, a customer service center may be only manned during regular business or daytime hours, even though many subscribers use the ISP services outside those hours. Consequently, subscribers can be forced to wait a significant time after a problem with their password has been discovered, before that problem can be resolved. Further, the sheer volume of customer service calls to reset passwords, which can account for approximately a fourth of total call volume, can significantly affect the manning requirements of the customer service center.
Additionally, different ISP services supplied to different regions can be handled in a compartmentalized fashion. For example, a single ISP can have different computer systems or company divisions to handle different types of connection services. Moreover, a single type of service can be subcontracted out by region. For example, DSL services for a southern region can be handled by a different telecommunication subcontractor than DSL services for a northern region. Each system, region, and/or division that handles ISP services can function in an autonomous fashion, maintaining separate user billing databases, user accounts, password files, and the like.
The different compartmentalized ISP sections can be transparent to the users. Users can incorrectly assume that a single ISP maintains services from a single centralized location. Therefore, a user that switches from dial-up services to DSL services can become frustrated, when different customer support systems and different account record-keeping functions are used. Further, ISP's relying upon different, largely redundant systems that provide customer support for different compartments, incur the cost of maintaining these multiple support systems. A secure, user-friendly means of automatically resetting passwords would permit ISP call centers to be operated with fewer live agents while providing increased support. Ideally, the password resetting means would be flexible enough to handle password resets for different compartmentalized systems in a uniform manner.